The loss hurts the Czechs' chances of qualifying automatically for the tournament in Brazil. They are tied with Denmark in Group B for third with five points from four matches. Italy leads with 10 points from four games. Bulgaria, which beat Malta 6-0 on Friday, has nine points from five matches.

"It's still a long way (to go)," Cech said. "We complicated things for ourselves."

The Czechs badly missed the creativity of captain Tomas Rosicky, whose thigh muscle injury only allowed him to come on as a substitute with 30 minutes left. Petr Jiracek took the playmaking role but was unable to replace him.

The uninspiring Czechs failed to create clear scoring opportunities. In their rare chances, goalkeeper Stephan Andersen denied shots from the edge of the area by Vladimir Darida and David Lafata. At the other end, Christian Eriksen tested Cech.